


The One with the Heterosexuality

by WinterSabbath



Series: The One with the Stucky AUs [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Blind Date, Charming Bucky Barnes, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Meet-Cute, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Sexuality Crisis, sexually confused Steve Rogers, shrinkyclinks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-10
Updated: 2020-06-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:01:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24639595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinterSabbath/pseuds/WinterSabbath
Summary: Natasha sets Steve up on a blind date with someone named Bucky.Except she left out an important detail: Bucky is a guy. And Steve Rogers is straight—or so he thinks.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Series: The One with the Stucky AUs [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1847920
Comments: 13
Kudos: 226





	The One with the Heterosexuality

**Author's Note:**

> This is loosely inspired by that episode in Friends where people assumed Chandler is gay. Just the initial set up is the same (Natasha setting Steve up, and Steve thinking he’s straight). After that, it deviates.

Steve tapped the coffee machine, flicked it with his finger, and came extremely close to punching it in frustration. After flicking it five times, it finally started up. 

He sighed and leaned back in the counter, watching as the machine filled his cup. Only fifteen minutes of break and he had wasted most of it getting coffee. 

As he watched the clock tick by, Natasha walked into the break room, hair tied up in a bun, her heels clicking on the floor.

Steve and Natasha were not exactly close friends. They knew each other through work, and their interactions only occurred within the building. That said, she was the closest Steve had to a friend here. He hadn’t exactly been sociable ever since starting his job five months ago.

“Hey,” Steve greeted, waving his hand in the air impassively. 

“Hey, Rogers.” Natasha raised an eyebrow at him, a small smile on her lips. “You’re single right?”

Steve blinked, lips parting in surprise. Natasha was often direct, but it wasn’t often that Steve was asked his relationship status. He nodded slowly. “Yeah…?”

“You looking for someone?”

There was no way to answer the question correctly. Steve swallowed, leaning back further on the counter, almost sitting on it. “Well, I’m not… opposed to it?” 

“Well, that’s nice. How do you feel about sushi?”

Sushi was nice. Steve wasn’t sure where exactly this particular conversation was headed, though. “I like it?” 

She hummed and nodded. “Good. Bucky loves Japanese. So, what do you say about a date on Saturday night?” 

“Wait, what?”

Natasha laughed, as though Steve’s expression was the funniest thing she’s ever seen. “Come on! I’ll set you up with a friend of mine. I’m sure you two will be perfect!”

“Er—“ Steve tugged on the hem of his loose polo shirt, trying to remind Natasha of his skinny (and tiny) body. “I’m not exactly the most attractive guy—“

“Oh, please,” Natasha scoffed. She walked over and handed Steve his coffee and began to make her own. “Don’t put yourself down like that! My friend’s a great person. You’ll like each other, I’m sure.”

“The last time I went on a date, it was a complete disaster,” Steve said. It was. He had knocked over a glass of water, and then proceeded to have an asthma attack only moments later. Needless to say, the girl never called back.

“Just give it a chance.” Natasha picked up her coffee and sent him a wink, already on her way out. “Saturday night. You know the Japanese restaurant two blocks from here? Zenkichi?”

Steve’s never been to it, but he’d heard of it. “Yeah.”

“Great! I’ll make Bucky bring a sunflower, so you know who to look for.”

Steve tried to hide a laugh. “Bucky?”

“Yep.”

Steve grinned. What a name.

“Should I wear something in particular?”

“Wear something blue, maybe.”

“Well, you can always just tell Bucky to look for the really short skinny guy with blond hair. I’m sure there won’t be a lot of that.” Steve shrugged. “But sure, I’ll wear blue.”

“That’s the spirit, Rogers!” Natasha exclaimed, then left.

Steve took a sip of his coffee. It was only three minutes later, the panic began to set in.

“Holy shit. I’m going on a date.”

* * *

“ _A date!_ ” Sam yelled into his ear. “ _A_ _date!”_

Steve pulled his phone away from his ear, wincing. “I’m already half deaf, would you quit shouting?”

“ _Steve Rogers is going on a date!”_ Sam burst out laughing. Steve could imagine him clutching his stomach, bending over in tears. “ _Alright, alright. This is wonderful, man.”_

“Yeah, yeah. Anyway, you can come over tomorrow.”

“ _Nah. What if you take her home?_ ”

Steve snorted. “I don’t put out on the first date.”

“ _Just in case. Call me when she’s left your apartment._ ”

Steve glanced at his watch. Thirty minutes left. “I’ve got to go now.”

“ _Enjoy your date!_ ” Sam laughed, ending the call himself. 

Steve rolled his eyes and stared at himself in the mirror. He smoothed his hair one more time, breathing in deeply. “You can do this,” he muttered.

How bad could a date be?

* * *

The restaurant was dimly lit. Chefs were cutting up sushi behind the sushi bar, and the sound of soft music and small chatter filled the air. 

A waitress gave him a Japanese greeting, then (in english) asked him if he was the only one here tonight. Steve shook his head. “Actually, have you seen anyone carrying around a sunflower?” It was ridiculous, now that he thought of it. Why would anyone be willing to carry around a random sunflower?

“Oh! Yes. He’s in one of our private rooms,” she smiled, motioning for Steve to follow.

Steve did so, but he was too busy frowning to pay attention to where they were going. “Hold on, what do you mean he?”

She looked at him like _he_ was the one spouting nonsense. Her hand reached out to slide open a wooden door. A pair of dress shoes were already placed outside, meaning the room had an occupant.

In dress shoes.

A man. A gorgeous man, but a man, nonetheless. He was sitting cross legged in front of the low table. The man waved at Steve enthusiastically, and there was a sunflower set beside him. “Hey! You’re Steve, right?”

To avoid any weird looks from the waitress, Steve began to take off his own shoes as well, stepping inside the genkan. 

“Uh, I think there’s been a mix—“

“I’m Bucky.”

Oh.

Oh, no.

“Press that button if you’re ready to order,” the waitress said. She pointed at the button on the table, set two menus in front of them, then exited the room. 

This was awkward.

“Okay, there seems to be a misunderstanding,” Steve began, drumming his fingers on the table. Bucky was staring at him intently, listening. How could a man be that beautiful? That was unfair. “I’m not…” Steve huffed, grimacing. “I’m not gay.”

A silence hung in the air for a moment, and Steve watched the smoke rising from his tea with unusual focus.

“Oh.” Bucky shuffled back a bit, looking away. “Oh. That’s a damn shame. Nat forgot to mention she was setting you up with a guy, then?”

“She did, yeah. She mentioned your name. I just thought… you know?” 

Bucky laughed. For a moment, Steve wondered if Bucky was laughing _at_ him, but then, “Why do all the pretty ones have to be straight?” said Bucky, sardonically.

There was a warmth that rose in Steve’s cheeks, but he chose to blame that on the light. “You don’t have to flatter me with lies,” he mumbled. 

“Lies? What? No.” Bucky composed himself. “I wasn’t lying. You _are_ pretty. But straight. So, I’ll back off. How about we be friends instead?”

Steve nodded. He was still wondering what Bucky was doing on blind dates. The man looked like he could pick up anyone he wanted to. He was gorgeous _and_ charming. How was he even single in the first place?

Then Bucky lifted his left arm, wrapping it around his tea, and that’s when Steve realized it was _metal._

“Wow,” Steve said. 

“Huh?” Bucky looked at Steve, then back at his hand. He sheepishly retracted it and hid it under the table. 

“Why are you hiding it? It’s so cool!”

“Oh. It’s just…” Bucky tilted his head. “You don’t think it’s creepy or something?”

Steve frowned. “No? I mean, I’m sorry that you lost your arm. But there’s nothing to be ashamed about with the prosthetic.”

“That’s… that’s really kind, Steve. Thank you.” Bucky brought his left hand back into view, almost confidently. He gave Steve a small smile. “We should probably order now.”

“Yeah, we should.”

* * *

“So, how do you know Natasha?” Bucky asked.

“Co-workers who meet up in the break room from time to time. What about you?”

“Childhood best friends.”

“Woah.” Steve wished he had a childhood best friend, someone he could look at and say ‘yeah, I’ve known that person all my life. He was grateful for Sam, nonetheless, even if they’ve only been best friends for five years.

* * *

“I work as an engineer for Stark Industries, actually.”

Steve had a raw salmon lifted halfway to his mouth. He raised his eyebrows. “Oh, wow. You must be really smart.”

“Well, not to brag, but,” Bucky was smiling, so obviously bragging as well, but it wasn’t arrogant at all, “I got my PhD at 25.”

* * *

“I do art, sometimes. Just as a hobby.”

“Really? That’s amazing. I can’t draw for shit, but I love visiting art museums.”

“Oh, I don’t usually meet many people into art.”

“Well, I’ve got a lot of respect for artists.” Bucky shrugged. “That shit isn’t easy.”

Steve ignored the way his stomach swooped at that. Why was he being so ridiculous?

* * *

They went to the same high school, apparently.

Bucky pointed a shrimp at Steve. “I can’t believe I’ve never seen you!”

“I wasn’t exactly popular, and you were, what, a grade higher?”

The real question was how _Steve_ never saw _Bucky_. Someone as handsome would not be hard to miss.

“Hm. I may have been three or four grades higher, actually. I accelerated.” Of course he did. “So I may have been a senior by the time you were a freshman. That could explain it.”

“So, were you popular?”

“Nah. I didn’t socialize much. I was there to learn, and I wanted to get into MIT, so there wasn’t much time for friends.”

Steve gaped at him. “You’re an MIT alum?”

“Yeah?”

“How are you still single?”

Bucky laughed. “What?”

“I mean—gosh, this probably sounds… weird? But you’re handsome _and_ smart. Who _wouldn’t_ want to date you?”

Bucky’s lips twitched, and he eyed Steve and snorted. “Straight guys, apparently.”

* * *

“I hated the Titanic.”

Steve almost dropped his cup. “What?!” he practically screeched.

* * *

Bucky pretended to stand. “I’m sorry, but I can’t be friends with a guy who thinks Judas Priest doesn’t _sound that nice_.”

Steve laughed. “They’re too noisy!”

“Too noi—I’ll introduce you to Meshuggah. Let’s see how noisy you think Priest is by then,” Bucky grumped.

“Hey, come on.” Steve reached over to tug the end of Bucky’s coat. “I dealt with your Titanic hate.”

“You insulted Priest!” he pouted, but sat down with a small smile.

* * *

“Steve! Steve, Jesus fuck!”

“I–I’m fine.”

“Why the hell did you eat that?!”

“I didn’t see!”

“You didn’t see.”

“I–I was distracted.”

“What would you even be distracted by? God. I’m going to go get you some milk.”

Steve, despite his burning throat and probably red face, could not stop thinking about the fact that he had swallowed a big lump of wasabi because he had been too busy staring at Bucky’s eyes.

Nope. Nope. He wasn’t going to think about it. Absolutely not.

* * *

“I’ll pay, Buck. Seriously.”

“No. This isn’t a date, right? We split it.”

Oh, yeah. It wasn’t. Steve swallowed. Why the hell did that slip his mind? He was _straight_.

* * *

“I had fun tonight,” Bucky said, the charming ( _very_ charming) grin on his face. He and Steve were standing outside the restaurant. 

Steve wiped his sweaty palms on his pants. There was a problem, was the thing. He was fucked. So, so fucked. That smile? So fucked.

Bucky dug his phone out of his pocket. “Wanna exchange numbers?” 

For lack of better response, Steve said, “Oh, yeah, sure,” and they did.

“So, you have a car, right?”

“I’m taking a cab.”

Bucky turned to face him. “What? Hell no. I’ll bring you home.”

“This isn’t a date,” Steve insisted, but the words felt more out of place the more he said it to himself.

“Yeah, I know.” Bucky had his hands on Steve’s shoulder and was already steering Steve to his car. “Just a gay man bringing his straight pal home so he doesn’t get scammed by a cab driver. Come on!” 

“I can by myself—“

“What if your wallet gets stolen?”

“That’s not gonna happen.”

“It might.”

“Bucky.”

“Stev _ie_.”

Steve sighed. “Okay, okay. Fine.” _Not a date. Nope. Not a date._

* * *

“Goodnight, Steve!” Bucky called out, the window of his car rolled down. 

Steve turned around, his hand already on the door handle. He waved the sunflower (Bucky had insisted—more like demanded—he took it) in the air. “Goodnight!”

* * *

“Hey, Sam?” Steve said to the phone after he had spent the entire morning convincing himself that last night was not, in fact, a dream. “Can you come over?”

There was a knock on his door fifteen minutes later.

“Is it possible to be straight but attracted to a guy?” was the first thing out of Steve’s mouth when Sam entered his house.

Sam furrowed his eyebrows, stopping in his tracks. “Hold on. Explain.”

“I went on a date.”

“The one last night?”

“Yes. It was with a guy. I didn’t know that at first, but when I got there, there was this really handsome man and—“

“Wait, your co-worker set you up on a date with a guy because she thought you were gay?”

“Yep.”

“Alright. Go on.”

“So, anyway. His name’s Bucky, and he’s really handsome. Like, if you saw him, man. It’s like he was straight off a GQ shoot or something.”

Sam nodded. “Real attractive guy, then.”

“Yeah. But it gets worse. He’s funny. And kind. And gentle, but not afraid to banter a bit, you know? And we had a really great night out. It felt like a date. It felt more like a date than any date I’ve been on.”

“Steve, if you like the guy, just give him another call. There’s nothing wrong with dating a man.”

“I told him I was straight!”

“You either give him a call, or you let it go.” 

“I don’t want to.”

“Give him a call?”

“No, let it go.”

Sam stared at him, deadpan. “Then _call him_.”

“You don’t think it’s weird?”

“Weird?”

Steve nodded, gesturing at himself for emphasis. “I’m having my sexuality crisis at 31. I’m a bit too old for it, don’t you think?”

“The _when_ doesn’t matter, Steve. Plus, labels are just labels anyway. At the end of the day, you decide who you are and what you want.” Sam’s face morphed into confusion at his sudden spiel. He waved a hand in the air and sat on the couch. “Just call the guy already.”

“What if he’s already friendzoned me?”

“Then I’ll order some pizza and beer so you can cry your heart out. Now, shoo.”

“This is _my_ house,” Steve muttered as he entered his bedroom. He pulled out his phone and stared at the number that Bucky had typed in. Steve hovered over the number hesitantly. Was he going to regret this? Maybe.

Nevertheless, he clicked on it and watched as it rang. He put the phone to his ear, biting his lip as he waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And… _what the hell?_

The phone beeped and Steve shakily put it back in his pocket. Bucky had deliberately ended the call. It was a Sunday, so Bucky couldn’t be at work, right? He just didn’t want to answer.

“Fuck,” Steve said hoarsely, barely pulling himself together. “Fuck.” 

He walked back out to the living room, and Sam looked at him sympathetically. Steve wasn’t the most subtle person.

“He said no?”

Steve shrugged. Bucky did, sort of. Ending the call before they could even talk hurt more than it should’ve. Steve sighed and collapsed on the couch, burying his face in a pillow.

Sam patted his arm and stood. “I’ll go order pizza.”

Steve wasn’t going to cry. He _wasn’t_. That would be pathetic. But mope? Yeah, definitely.

* * *

“Maybe I’m not actually gay, and he was just a fluke,” Steve said. He was only on his first bottle of beer, but he never really drank more than one. He was small and sickly, and it didn’t take much to get him drunk.

Sam, still sober, snorted and said: “Or, you could be bi.”

“A fluke,” Steve insisted, taking a bite off the pineapple precariously hanging off the pizza dough. Sam looked at the pineapple with disgust.

“There’s nothing wrong with liking him.”

“Yeah, but he ghosted me.”

“Wait, what?”

“Yeah. He didn’t pick up.”

Sam put his hand to his face and sighed loudly. “Here I thought he outright told you to fuck off. Did it ever occur to you he may just be busy?”

“It’s a Sunday!” Steve mourned.

“Some people are busy on Sundays.”

“He might—“ Steve had no time to finish his statement as his phone rang in his pocket. He frowned and looked at the caller ID, nearly dropping his pizza and phone when he did. “Sam!”

“What? Is it Bucky?”

Steve managed a nod, his eyes wide with concern. He tapped the answer button and put it on speaker.

“Hello?” Steve said. 

“ _Steve!_ ” came Bucky, sounding out of breath. “ _Sorry I missed your call the first time, I had this prototype demo in SI. Stark doesn’t believe in taking breaks, so, you know? So, work, work, work it is.”_ He laughed a little, and Steve was too shocked to reply. There was a pause, and then: “ _Anyway, why’d you call?_ ”

Steve was still gaping at his phone screen.

Sam rolled his eyes and whacked Steve on the head. ‘Go!’ he mouthed.

“Right! Yes! Uh…” Steve glanced at Sam for help.

Sam made a face and walked to the bathroom to give them some privacy. Steve huffed. Some help. 

Back to Bucky.

“I was wondering if you…” Steve gripped his pizza tightly. “Wanna… go out? Again?”

The response was immediate. 

“ _Yeah, of course. I’d love to._ ” 

There was certainly a peak of enthusiasm in Bucky’s voice, and Steve was afraid that if he dared to clarify his question, the tone would dissipate. Did he really want to spend the next outing as friends? Would he be able to get over Bucky that fast?

Maybe. Maybe not. But if there _was_ a chance, no matter how miniscule, Steve didn’t want to let it slip by. Also, Sam would throttle him if he didn’t fix this.

“I meant it as a date,” Steve said, hurriedly. He shut his eyes and took a deep breath. There was stunned silence on the other end, so, fool that he is, he continued to talk. “But, of course, if you don’t want to be involved with me like that, we can go out as friends too. I don’t really care.” He cringed. “I mean, I do, but I won’t hate you for it.”

“ _Well, uh._ ” Bucky clicked his tongue, and with his silence, Steve could hear the sound of machinery operating in the background. “ _I’d love to go on a date with you, if that’s on the table. Except… I’m just a little bit confused?_ ”

“I don’t know how to explain it,” admitted Steve. “I _thought_ I was straight, but then I met you, and last night was so amazing, and you’re so fun to talk to, _and_ you’re handsome—“ Steve paused, reconsidering his words. “Okay. That. Yeah. And I _can_ imagine myself kissing you. I wanted to. Fuck. Fuck, that’s weird. That’s weird, isn’t it?”

“ _Not weird. Cute. And if it’s any help, I also wanted to kiss you last night. But I knew where my boundaries were, so I didn’t dare let myself consider it._ ”

Steve dug his fingers into his pizza. “So…”

“ _Sure, we can go on a date,_ ” Bucky said. Steve could hear the smile in his voice. “ _It can be like a trial thing, since you haven’t really figured it out yet. I won’t be offended if it turns out you’re not into guys after all. Sad, yes, but not offended._ ”

“Thanks,” Steve murmured. He ran over possible date scenarios he and Bucky could have, and then said: “How about I plan the date?” He didn’t want Bucky to think Steve was just using him as a practice dummy. “I’ll text you the details.”

“ _That’ll be fun. I’m usually available Mondays through Saturdays after 6 pm. Supposedly available during Sundays. I’ll just tell you if something comes up at work._ ”

“Okay.” Steve pursed his lips. “Thank you, Bucky. Really. For understanding.”

“ _No problem_.” There was a bunch of yelli ng in the distance, and then Steve could hear Bucky saying ‘hold on!’. Then, “ _I’ve got to go. I’m looking forward to our date!_ ”

“Me too. Bye!”

The call ended and Sam emerged from the bathroom right on time, having obviously eavesdropped. “It went well?”

Steve threw a pillow at him. “You know it did.”

* * *

The coffee machine was in a much better mood come Monday morning. Steve was sitting on the small table with a newspaper in front of him when Natasha walked inside.

“How’d the date go?” she asked. There was a smirk in her lips that told Steve she already knew. Of course, she probably asked Bucky the same night of the date.

“Why did you assume I was gay?” was Steve’s response as he looked up from his paper.

Natasha frowned. “You aren’t?”

“Eh.” Steve wrinkled his nose. “I’d say I’m more along the lines of _Buckysexual.”_

“Huh. Well, glad it worked out, Rogers.”

“I’m glad too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and Kudos are appreciated! If you have any Stucky prompts, you can leave them in the comments below :)


End file.
